Sat., Jan. 28, 2012

The Houston Aeros (21-10-3-9, 54 pts.) finish a two-game road trip with a matchup against the San Antonio Rampage (23-18-20-0, 48 pts.) for a 7 p.m. game at the AT&T Center.

AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen via Smartphone: Download the TuneIn Radio app; search Houston, then KNTH.
*Tonight's game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Houston Plus (Click here for channel listings)

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

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OVERVIEW
The Houston Aeros (21-10-3-9, 54 pts.) finish a two-game road trip with a matchup against the San Antonio Rampage (23-18-20-0, 48 pts.) for a 7 p.m. game at the AT&T Center.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
---The Aeros dropped a 5-2 decision to the OKC Barons last night while San Antonio upended Texas 6-2.
---The Aeros are winless in five (0-2-1-2) while the Rampage has won six straight.
---Houston’s 54 points is third-best in the Western Conference behind OKC (61) and Charlotte (56).

WATCH FOR THIS
Six of the nine games this season between HOU and SA have been decided by one goal.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Friday (Jan. 27) --- at OKC (5-2 L)
Saturday (Jan. 28) --- at San Antonio (7 p.m. CST)

AEROS BROADCASTS
Radio: 1070 KNTH-AM
Listen online: www.aeros.com
Watch online: www.ahllive.com
Listen on Smartphone including BlackBerry: Download the TuneIn Radio App; search Houston, then KNTH.

LIVE SCORING AND STATS
The AHL provides live scoring and stats via the GameCenter tab at www.theahl.com.

AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC
The AHL All-Star Classic is set for Jan. 28 and 29 in Atlantic City. Jon DiSalvatore and Matt Hackett will represent Houston. Watch the game live; visit Aeros.com for a full listing of available channels.

AEROS/RAMPAGE HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the 10th meeting this season… Houston is 6-0-1-2 vs. the Rampage this season (3-0-1-2 at home, 3-0-0-0 on the road)…  HOU PP is 13/36 (36.1%)… SA PP is 6/35 (17.1%)… The Aeros are 67-28-8-6 all-time vs. the Rampage (39-11-3-2 at home, 28-17-5-4 on the road).

RECENT AEROS TRANSACTIONS
---Jan. 26: David Fischer signed PTO (from Florida ECHL)
---Jan. 25: Matt Kassian, Jed Ortmeyer, and Chad Rau reassigned by MIN
---Jan. 21: Chris Clackson signed PTO (from Gwinnett ECHL)
---Jan. 20: C.J. Stretch signed PTO (from Ontario (ECHL)
---Jan. 20: Matt Kassian, Jed Ortmeyer, Nate Prosser and Chad Rau recalled by MIN
---Jan. 20: David McIntyre and Casey Wellman reassigned by MIN

AEROS INJURIES
Cody Almond has missed the last six… Jeff Penner has missed the last four games.

AEROS MILESTONES
---Matt Kassian (491 Aeros PIM). He already ranks second in Aeros AHL history behind Erik Reitz.
---Jon DiSalvatore’s 18th goal will be 69th as an Aero, placing him first in franchise history (AHL only, 4th AHL/IHL). His 41st game on Jan. 21 at TEX was his 200th as an Aero, placing him 10th all-time in Aeros/AHL history.

AEROS PLAYER NOTES
---Mike Radja scored his first two goals as an Aero on Jan. 21 at TEX. He has points in three straight games (2-2=4).
---Justin Fontaine has five points (2-3=5) the last four games.
---Casey Wellman has four points (2-3=5) in his last three games and registered Houston’s first three-point game (2-1=3) of the season on Jan. 22.
---Drew Bagnall played in his 300th AHL game at TEX on Jan. 21.
---Jeff Taffe notched his 400th AHL point with an assist on Jon DiSalvatore's goal on Jan. 8 at SA.
---Jeff Taffe had two assists while skating in his 500th AHL game on Jan. 21 at TEX.
---Kyle Medvec registered his first points of the season with a pair of assists on Jan. 20.
---The Aeros have made 28 transactions since Jan. 1 involving 18 different players. The team made 33 transactions from Dec. 1-Dec. 31 involving 17 different players. The Dec./Jan. combined totals include 27 different players and 61 transactions.

TEAM NOTABLES
---Houston has earned at least a point in 18 of the 25 games (9-7-3-6) in which they have allowed the first goal. They are 12-3-0-3 when scoring first.
---The Aeros played nine of 11 games at home from Dec. 8-Jan. 6 and posted a record of 3-4-0-2 in those contests.
---Houston plays seven of 10 games on the road from Jan. 8-Feb. 2. So far, they have notched a 3-2-0-1 record away from home in that time.
---Houston has played 22 games that have been decided by one goal (8-2-3-9).
---The Aeros edged Grand Rapids 3-2on Jan. 11 for their first shootout victory of the season.
---The Aeros broke the 100,000 mark in attendance this season with the 4,608 who attended the game on Dec. 18.

AEROS GOALIES
HACKETT – Is 4-7-3 (2.72 GAA/.900 SV%) at home and 9-1-1 (2.24 GAA/.933 SV%) on the road… Won six-straight road starts from Oct. 28-Dec. 30… Made his NHL debut on Dec. 6 and made 34 saves in a 2-1 win at SJ after entering the game early in the first period to relieve an injured Josh Harding… Last Game: Stopped 25 of 29 in 40 minutes of action in a 5-2 L at OKC on Jan. 28.

KUEMPER --- Is 1-1-2 at home (2.01 GAA/.934 SV%) and 4-2-2 on the road (2.19 GAA/ .931 SV%)… Led the ECHL in both GAA (1.74) and save percentage (.941) at the time of his recall on Nov. 29 and posted a 7-1-0 record with the Ontario Reign… Recorded his first pro shutout with 1-0 win on Dec. 9 vs. SAN (33 saves)… Last Game: Stopped 3/3 in 20 minutes of relief work on Jan. 28 at OKC.

POWER PLAY
Is 4/12 in the last three games… Went 7/38 (18.4%) in games 31-40…  Went 5/37 (13.5%) in games 21-30… Went 20/106 (18/9%) in games 1-20… Set a season-high going 3/5 in a 4-2 win at SAN on Oct. 28.

PENALTY KILL
Opponents are 5/9 on the PP in the last three games… Stopped 28/36 (77.7%) in games 31-40… Stopped 20/27 (74.0%) in games 21-30… Stopped 80/97 (82.4%) in games 1-20.

AEROS PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
4 – BAGH-nawl
7 – FRED-haym
8 – MED-vekh
10 – RAHD-juh
14 – deh-SAL-vuh-tohr
20 – ROWH (like now)
22 – TAYF
26 – MACK-in-tyre
27 – mick-MILL-uhn
35 – KEM-per
39 – GEHN-oh-way
41 - ORT-migh-er
42 – KASS-ee-uhn
61 – KOOH-muh